The problem with Christmas is that, much like the entire population of pandas, it only comes once a year. So along with your birthday, there’s two dates on the calendar that you really look forward to. The same is true for most football fans at the start of the season when they look at the fixture list to see when their team plays its local rivals.
But not in Scotland.
In a good year, thanks to the split, the most two teams will play each other is three times. Which is still one too many. And three too many if you’re a Hibs fan just now.
First known picture of an old firm game. David Weir is behind the Ginger kind…
But if you follow follow Rangers or haill Celtic, you’re treated to a local derby at least four times a year. Not including possible cup matches. This is one of those years when the Glasgow giants have faced each other at every domestic opportunity. And just to top it off, they drew in the cup so now there’s a replay of that one too.
Thank god Celtic got knocked out of the Europa League.
It’s not to say that Old Firm games aren’t exciting, and usually the best games of the Scottish season, but seven times in one year?
I know I’m not the only one fed up if it. One look at Celtic Park on Sunday and it was obvious that everyone in a blue shirt was bored limp with the thought of playing “them” again. Except El Hadji Diouf, it must’ve just dawned on him that there IS a worse place to play than in Blackburn.
My theory is that the Celtic board is helping Rangers out financially by giving them more derbies.
We all know the sob story of Sir David Murray and his twitchy cheque-writing hand, and how that hand is now twitching down the trousers of Lloyds bank, desperately trying to save the Gers.
So is it too hard to suggest that maybe Celtic have realised that without Rangers they are also screwed? Winning the league constantly would be fun, but after 21 in a row surely even the greenest of Celtic fans would get fed up, especially when their jealousy at Rangers and Partick’s rivalry kicks in.
The whole “let’s play in England!” thing isn’t working out. Neither is the idea of playing against top European teams in an Atlantic League or whatever it was meant to be. The idea of even playing in Europe at all is proving too much now too.
So maybe his is a ploy to nurse Rangers along until they can con some poor fool into buying the keys to Ibrox by telling them there’s gold or oil under the pitch. At this rate the Teddy Bears are as well stripping back the stadium for raw materials and going to the scrappies to see what they can get.
So here’s an idea: why not let them play each other all the time all year. Let’s forget this SPL1 and SPL2 stuff. And chuck the whole 10/12/14/16 team league debate out the window. They’ve made no qualms in the past about ditching the rest of Scottish football in order to stay alive, so why not let them?
In fact, why not push them. Let them play in their own little two-team league.
When other leagues get word of this exciting new brand of Scottish football without the pesky small clubs anchoring the Old Firm, John Reid and Martin Bain will soon have Real and Barca, Man Utd and City et al booting in the door to join this fantastic new league.
It will be like all their Christmases and Birthdays rolled into one.
And with them gone maybe someone else can challenge for the title and give us the exciting league we’re all crying out for.
Jim Johnstone
http://twitter.com/#!/JimJohnstone87